Prayers and Meditations eBook

These, O my Lord, are Thy servants whom no corrupt
inclination hath kept back from what Thou didst send
down in Thy Book. They have bowed themselves
before Thy Cause, and received Thy Book with such resolve
as is born of Thee, and observed what Thou hadst prescribed
unto them, and chosen to follow that which had been
sent down by Thee.

Thou seest, O my Lord, how they have recognized and
confessed whatsoever Thou hast revealed in Thy Scriptures.
Give them to drink, O my Lord, from the hands of Thy
graciousness the waters of Thine eternity. Write
down, then, for them the recompense ordained for him
that hath immersed himself in the ocean of Thy presence,
and attained unto the choice wine of Thy meeting.

I implore Thee, O Thou the King of kings and the Pitier
of the downtrodden, to ordain for them the good of
this world and of the world to come. Write down
for them, moreover, what none of Thy creatures hath
discovered, and number them with those who have circled
round Thee, and who move about Thy throne in every
world of Thy worlds.

Thou, truly, art the Almighty, the All-Knowing, the
All-Informed.

XLVI: “Praised be Thou, O my God, that Thou hast ordained...”

Praised be Thou, O my God, that Thou hast ordained
Naw-Ruz as a festival unto those who have observed
the fast for love of Thee and abstained from all that
is abhorrent unto Thee. Grant, O my Lord, that
the fire of Thy love and the heat produced by the
fast enjoined by Thee may inflame them in Thy Cause,
and make them to be occupied with Thy praise and with
remembrance of Thee.

Since Thou hast adorned them, O my Lord, with the
ornament of the fast prescribed by Thee, do Thou adorn
them also with the ornament of Thine acceptance, through
Thy grace and bountiful favor. For the doings
of men are all dependent upon Thy good-pleasure, and
are conditioned by Thy behest. Shouldst Thou
regard him who hath broken the fast as one who hath
observed it, such a man would be reckoned among them
who from eternity had been keeping the fast.
And shouldst Thou decree that he who hath observed
the fast hath broken it, that person would be numbered
with such as have caused the Robe of Thy Revelation
to be stained with dust, and been far removed from
the crystal waters of this living Fountain.

Thou art He through Whom the ensign “Praiseworthy
art Thou in Thy works” hath been lifted up,
and the standard “Obeyed art Thou in Thy behest”
hath been unfurled. Make known this Thy station,
O my God, unto Thy servants, that they may be made
aware that the excellence of all things is dependent
upon Thy bidding and Thy word, and the virtue of every
act is conditioned by Thy leave and the good-pleasure
of Thy will, and may recognize that the reins of men’s
doings are within the grasp of Thine acceptance and
Thy commandment. Make this known unto them, that
nothing whatsoever may shut them out from Thy Beauty,